Lux Express: 11% of passengers do not know that wearing a seat belt is mandatory on buses

Women are more safety-conscious than men, and older passengers are more diligent than younger ones, but 11% of passengers still do not know that wearing a seat belt on a bus is mandatory. This is revealed by a Lux Express survey, which shows that people in Estonia are using seat belts on buses more than before.

“Our goal is to ensure a safe journey for all passengers. It is encouraging to see that people themselves are increasingly contributing to this,” said Ingmar Roos, CEO of the Lux Express Group. “Fastening a seat belt has become part of passengers’ everyday habits. The share of passengers on domestic routes in Estonia who ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ use a seat belt has increased from 89% to 92% over the past year. It is important that everyone does their part to make every bus journey as safe as possible.”

The most safety-conscious passengers are those over the age of 45. In the 45–59 age group, 83.7% of respondents say they always fasten their seat belt, and among passengers aged over 60 this figure rises to 85.7%. Younger passengers use seat belts less frequently: among 17–26-year-olds, 64.9% say they always fasten their seat belt. Differences also emerge by gender—80.9% of women say they always fasten their seat belt, compared with 74.1% of men.

“As can be seen, seat belt use increases with age, and attitudes that previously hindered seat belt use are also declining,” Roos added.

As a positive trend, the number of people who do not fasten their seat belt due to discomfort has decreased. Compared to last year, this share has fallen from 43.2% to 31%.

The main ongoing issue remains forgetfulness, cited by 15.5% of respondents. As a surprising finding, 11% of respondents did not know that fastening a seat belt is mandatory by law. Here, bus drivers play an increasingly important role as part of the solution, as their reminders have significantly encouraged seat belt use. While a driver’s reminder influenced 36.4% of passengers in 2024, this year the figure has already risen to 45.2%.

Roos emphasizes that Lux Express will continue its efforts to improve safety through both technical solutions and reminders, and encourages all passengers to always fasten their seat belts.

The survey was conducted from 17 October to 4 November 2025. The questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 10,000 customers, of whom 1,692 responded. Of these, 1,248 respondents were traveling on domestic routes within Estonia.